


11 Marks of Trouble

by beyondthemagic (draconic_flare)



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Gen, Multi, Nana is a caring mother, Nana is not oblivious, Not All27, Other, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Sawada Iemitsu Bashing, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Time Skips, Tsuna is Not Dame, the girls are not useless, the only ocs in this story will be parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-10-11 17:45:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10470567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconic_flare/pseuds/beyondthemagic
Summary: In a world where soul marks dictate the way people live, Tsuna couldn't feel more out of place. Born with not one or two marks, but eleven, he knew that he was in for a world of trouble. Even as a child, he dreaded meeting his soulmates. Whether he likes it or not, all he can do is wait and pray that his life won't be as bad as he predicts it'll be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually my first attempt at writing fanfiction in a while, and my first solo attempt at writing KHR! fanfiction. I thought I had moved beyond this series after the manga had finished, but I recently started watching the anime again and despite its flaws, I still think the series is fairly entertaining and the characters lively and enjoyable. That said, a few things have always bothered me, but none more than the way that the girls are portrayed in the series. So my main desire to write this was to portray the girls doing more, since I thought there was a lot of wasted potential with them. But I also wanted to try my hand at a soulmate au fic, and it really bothers me how so few soulmate aus involve platonic relationships. So essentially, this fanfiction is my attempt to combine these two desires together and make a contribution to this fandom, which was probably the first fandom I actually got invested into. I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure of the scope of this story at the moment, but I hope to at least produce something positive from this. Hopefully you'll stick around with me. 
> 
> With that said, it should be obvious that KHR! does not belong to me, as this series would have taken a drastically different course if it did.

Tsuna had always worried about the day when he would meet one of his soulmates for the first time. All that everyone around him seemed to care about were the soul marks that were scattered on each other’s bodies. How many, what shapes, what colors – if it was related to the marks, it was relevant. But for Tsuna, his soul marks brought him a sense of dread rather than fascination. It didn’t help that quite a few of his marks were depictions of various weapons, but the fact that he had eleven marks, which was far from the average of two was what really got to him.

Ever since he could remember, his mother had been preparing him on how to handle his… situation. When he was still an infant, she had taken a picture of all of his marks so he would know their original forms – if a mark didn’t match up with the picture, he had at least had one direct interaction with one of his soul mates, and so the two of them would have an identical mark on both of their bodies. But knowing what the marks looked like wasn’t enough – he needed to be able to survive, if the gun sketched over the center of his spine was any indication of the dangers he might encounter. And so before he was ever in a school, his mom, aware of the potential dangers soulmates could bring, had Tsuna training his body daily so that if someone were to try to hurt him, he might have a chance of fighting back and surviving. He never questioned his mom about her motivations or why she was so quick to interpret that the marks would more than likely bring more than just a little bit of trouble – even without her saying anything, he saw the way she stared at her own mark, a brilliant night sky filled with gleaming stars plastered on her right arm, with downcast eyes. With his father’s constant absence and the tears that poured out from under the furrowed eyebrows of his mother whenever he contacted her, Tsuna was just beginning to comprehend the anguish that his mother felt. On those days, she would place him on her lap and say, “Love isn’t easy, but one day, you’ll have a lot of people who love you.”

By the time he was six, he already started hoping that he wouldn’t meet any of his soulmates. Not if it would cause him as much pain as his mother felt. But being surrounded by kids still filled with excitement, well, he wasn’t exactly mister popular when the others caught wind of his cynicism. When asked in an assignment to convey his feelings on his marks, he honestly remarked that he would rather not meet his soulmate and live a happier life than meet his soulmate and suffer. Unfortunately for him, nobody else in his class comprehended his sentiment.

 “What a loser,” one of the kids in his class called out to him one day, “how sad do you have to be to not want a soulmate?”

“He probably doesn’t want one because he doesn’t have one!” Another boy called out. A few of their classmates started surrounding Tsuna, backing him up against the wall. If it had just been one, he might have been able to fight back, like his mother was teaching him how. But three? He was forced into a defensive position.

“Why don’t we check, just to make sure?” One of the boys asked, and Tsuna was already pushing his back up against the wall, preparing to kick them away. He didn’t want their hands on him, roughly pulling at his clothes just to get another reason to ridicule him. He was all too grateful that none of his marks were visible on his legs or hands, but there was one on his wrist and another on the back of his neck that were barely hidden by his shirt. It wouldn’t take too long for them to find all of the strange marks. He needed a way out, a chance to escape.

“What are you three doing to that boy?” a voice boomed from behind from behind them. Looking up to see a teacher scrutinizing the scene, Tsuna sighed his relief. His would-be tormentors gave lame replies before the teacher ordered them to separate and return to their class immediately. After checking to ensure that Tsuna was okay, the teacher also sent him off as well. Although Tsuna did his best to hide the pain and embarrassment in his face with a smile, his mother immediately noticed something was off when she picked him up that afternoon. Seeing the way he clutched his sleeves, she knew what the trouble had been. 

***

Tsuna had gotten used to being the last one picked for a team during PE or recess. Though he wasn't the weakest student in his class or the most athletically inapt, he knew the other kids preferred to avoid him for the same reasons that they always did. So when it was time to play baseball and he was automatically sent far outfield when it was his team's turn to take the field, he didn't complain. Knowing how unlikely it would be for one of the batters to swing hard to send anything towards him, he shifted his head upwards and watched as the clouds morphed into dragons, whales, and all sorts of other creatures. He almost didn't notice when his classmates started yelling his name, telling him to pay attention. He was so focused on the that was on a straight course to crashing into his face, that he failed to notice the figure dashing towards him. Squeezing his eyes shut and meekly raising up his hand so he could claim that he attempted to catch the ball, he was surprised to hear the soft thud of the ball without feeling anything on his face. 

"Caught it!" another kid exclaimed besides Tsuna. When Tsuna finally opened his eyes, he noticed one of his classmates, Yamamoto Takeshi, standing right beside him. Although the boy had a wide grin on his face, his eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at Tsuna. "Try to pay a little more attention next time, okay?" 

Tsuna nodded, trying to formulate a response. But before he could get any words out of his mouth, he noticed an extending mark on Takeshi's right arm. Rather than containing a single, simple image of an object or place like most of their classmates' marks, Takeshi's depicted a scene of a small blue bird flying under a blue sky filled with dark clouds. Tsuna had only seen marks like that on adults, like his mom. 

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Before Takeshi looked back at Tsuna, he had thrown the ball back infield, too focused on the game to notice his classmate gazing up at him.

"Oh, sorry!" Tsuna said, immediately averting his eyes and forcing his head down a little. "It's just... Your mark isn't like everyone else's." 

Out of the corner of his eyes, Tsuna noticed when Takeshi looked down at the image on his arm. The other boy's expression immediately widened, his grin disappearing to as his mouth opened just for a moment. But just as quickly as shock overcame him, Takeshi managed to fix his face with an amused expression that seemed to sit naturally on his features. 

"Wow! It wasn't like that earlier. I wonder if maybe..." As Takeshi looked at Tsuna, Tsuna couldn't stop the heat that was rushing towards his cheeks as he understood what the other boy had just insinuated. Even though he had the same thought just moments before, he didn't dare say it out loud. Tsuna had nothing against Takeshi, but the thought of being the soulmate of someone as well-liked as him, it just didn't sit right with him. And yet... "It's a shame that-"

"Inside, when we're changing, please wait for me!" Tsuna cried out, cutting the other boy off before he could finish. Tsuna's sudden outburst startled Takeshi, but once he understood Tsuna's implications, he nodded and returned to his infield position. For the rest of the game, Tsuna was even more distracted than before, but fortunately for him, no one else got close to swinging outfield, and no one expected him to hit the ball when his team was up to bat.

Once it was time to change, Tsuna immediately isolated himself from the rest of the class. He was used to changing after everyone left, but for once, he started changing immediately. Carefully examining his arms and torso before putting his uniform back on, he looked for any differences in the marks. _No. No. No. No. No. No. No-_ At the top of his left forearm, the first thing he noticed was blue. The blue sky, blue bird, blueish gray clouds... And then he knew. 

"Takeshi-kun?" Tsuna called out hesitantly after dressing again, unsure if the boy was even around. 

"Oh, hey, Tsuna! I didn't see where you had run off earlier."

"Ah, sorry about that... But I have something to show you," Tsuna said, pushing up the sleeve of his left arm. Tsuna waited as Takeshi examined his arm, anxiety plaguing him about how the boy in front of him would react. 

"So does that mean...?"

"Yeah," Tsuna replied, "it looks like we're soulmates."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Tsuna always calls Takeshi by his family name, but I figured since they were kids, he would probably be a little less formal. I hope that change doesn't bother you, since I'll be using it throughout the story.  
> Sorry if the characters seem a little OOC, though I guess that they were never going to be exactly like their original counterparts in the first place. Still, I'll try my best to make sure that they don't deviate too much aside from the changes that would require them to be quite different.  
> Also, I apologize for any mistakes I might have made with grammar or spelling. I tried to catch as many mistakes as I could, but I'll need to go back later and check to make sure I didn't miss anything else. 
> 
> Please let me know what you guys think! I'm curious as to whether you have any guesses about who the remaining ten soulmates could be. And what you think in general, honestly.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day dragged on far too long for Tsuna. Although he always preferred the comfort of his mother and home to the imposing atmosphere of his school, on that particular day, he wanted nothing more than to return home immediately. After coming to the revelation that Takeshi was his soulmate, and he was Takeshi’s, both boys wanted to find out more about each other. While Tsuna still lacked an interest in soulmates, he couldn’t help but want to be near Takeshi. With the boy’s easy-going nature and goofy but lovable smile, Tsuna felt the tension evaporate from the atmosphere. And while Tsuna was still unsure of the other boy’s feelings on the matter, so far he treated Tsuna to the same smiles he shared with others. He hadn’t gone out of his way to ignore him or back him into any corners. 

While his teacher noticed how Tsuna carried himself straighter than he had earlier in the day, she didn’t make much of it. Nobody did, until his mother came to pick him up. The slumped form that Tsuna usually assumed had been replaced by straight posture and a _smile_. She didn’t even realize that he was standing really close to another kid. “Tsu-kun, what a surprise! Did something good happen today?”

“Yes,” Tsuna replied with a near whisper, dipping his head as he checked around him. It was only when Tsuna tilted his head towards the boy next to him, who offered him a grin as bright and warm as the sun, that Nana noticed Takeshi. “I met Takeshi-kun. We’re…” 

Tsuna failed to get out another word, but Nana was struggling to contain her joy. Locking her fingers together, she forced her joint hands to her chest to keep from clapping. She would be jumping up and down f it wasn't for the fact that she knew her son would jump out of his skin from the sudden stares.

“Tsu-kun, I’m so proud!” she cheered, beaming at both boys, before turning towards the slightly taller of the two to ask, “Are you friends with Tsuna, Takeshi-kun?’

For a moment, the boy twisted his feet around, and a bit of nervous laughter escaped from him. “Yes ma’am, in a way, ha ha...” 

“Take care of Tsu-kun in school for me, okay?” After flashing one of her custom cheery grins, she motioned Tsuna forward with her right hand. “All right, sweetie. It’s time to go now.”

Usually, Tsuna never hesitated to rush forward and put the school building far behind him. But rather than rushing forward, he latched onto Takeshi’s arm. “Can’t Takeshi come with us?”

Looking at the boys, Nana thought her heart would melt into sheer goo from how innocent they were. With a gentle frown, she stepped forward and hunched down to look directly at the boys. “I’m so happy that you two are friends now, but we can’t take Takeshi home with us without telling his parents. Besides, Tsuna, you still have your training this afternoon.” 

Tsuna’s eyes widened as he recalled his training. Nana hated how quickly her son hung his head. How could she deny her son an opportunity to hang out with his first friend? After all, this was what she had been wanting for him ever since he started school. “But maybe you two can meet for dinner, if it would be okay with Takeshi-kun’s parents.”

“Oh! You two can come to my place for dinner!” Takeshi exclaimed, his face radiating with joy from thinking up a solution. Nana opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, the boy pointed over to a woman with long and slick brown hair. “Hey, mom, this is my friend Tsuna. Can he come over for dinner tonight?”

With a quick look down a Takeshi, noticing the way he was practically wagging, and a glance over at Tsuna whose brown eyes conveyed more innocence than a puppy’s, Takeshi’s mother couldn’t help but be in awe.

“Of course he can come over, as long as his mother is okay with.” Turning towards Tsuna’s mother, Takeshi’s mother offered a somewhat weary smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Yamamoto Aoi.”  

“Yay!” Takeshi cheered over his mother’s introduction, while Tsuna turned his pleading over to his own mother. With a gentle sigh and a hint of a smile, Nana confirmed her agreement after introducing herself. 

“Thank you for generosity. Where do you live, Yamamoto-san?” Tsuna’s mother inquired of the other mother. When the name “TakeSushi” was uttered, Nana did her best to keep her face even. But Takeshi’s mother must have noticed the crease in Nana’s forehead. 

“Don’t worry, we wouldn’t charge anybody we’re inviting over. Plus, I’ll be the one cooking tonight. How about we meet at six, so the boys can play together?” At that, Nana released a sigh of relief.

“That sounds wonderful!” After exchanging goodbyes, the two families parted for the rest of the afternoon. 

*** 

“Wow, Takeshi-kun! Your toys are so cool!” The two six years had gathered together in Takeshi’s room while their mothers talked downstairs. Sprawled around them on the floor was an assortment of robots (which created a debate on whether Transformers or Voltron is the better series), trading cards (a mutual agreement that Pokemon was the way to go), and even toy guns. Tsuna still grasped a shield while Takeshi had propped his plastic sword against his wall. Their hair stuck out controllably, but they both had big grins on their faces.

“Thanks! You were fun to play against. None of the other kids can defend themselves as well as you.” At the compliment, Tsuna offered a sheepish smile. He might get confused in the classroom a lot, and he always messed up whenever they played games in gym class, but even at such a young age, he was already quite agile and able to move well defensively. In their game, Takeshi only managed to land a blow on him twice, and one of the two blows had mostly been blocked with the shield. “How come you aren’t this good at school?” 

“I’m only good at defending myself because I’ve been taking Judo classes for self-defense. My mom thought it would be a good idea to help protect me.” Tsuna bent his head down as he spoke. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed at being bad at stuff at school, but because he wasn’t used to talking about himself, well, ever. But Takeshi didn’t jeer at him or even laugh him off. 

“Self-defense? Tsuna, are you already being bullied?” When Tsuna looked up, he noticed how Takeshi’s smile had been replaced with a frown and knotted eyebrows that he only ever saw on grown-ups. Just seeing Takeshi’s face like that twisted Tsuna’s stomach.

“No, nobody hurts me. People just avoid me.” He paused to see the reaction on his friend’s face. Part of him wanted to stop there. He liked the way Takeshi looked when he smiled, and he definitely didn’t want to see him frown again. But… they were soulmates, and he was supposed to be honest with his soulmate, right? Shaking his head, Tsuna made his resolution. “The reason why I’m learning Judo is because of my soul marks.”

“Soul marks?” Takeshi asked. His own soul marks were exposed now with the tank top he wore. On his right forearm was the mark that was now identical to the one on Tsuna’s left forearm, but two marks could be seen, with one on his left upper arm and another on his collarbone. Tsuna nodded, wondering if Takeshi was hiding anymore, just as he was hiding most of his – even when they had gym, Tsuna had taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts to hide all but the mark on the back of his neck (though he was pretty sure his hair was just long enough to cover that one, too). 

Shrugging off his jacket, Tsuna revealed all of five marks on his arms, rather than the two that were exposed when he revealed the mark that was identical to Takeshi’s. He offered his arms out to Takeshi, who readily examined them with him. The three most noticeable marks – the one on his inner left forearm, a mark of a magical girl wand on his inner right wrist, and a mark on his upper left arm were all innocent enough. But the fourth, a mark on the underside of his right forearm, worried him. He had no desire to meet someone with a stick of dynamite. And he honestly didn’t know what to make of the one resting on the bottom of his right shoulder. 

“Five marks? And I thought four was a lot! But I can see why you’re learning self-defense. I can’t imagine what kind of interaction could involve dynamite!” Takeshi tried to summon his contagious laughter to lighten the mood, but it failed him.

“Actually, there’s more. I... I have eleven marks.” Tsuna whispered the last part, and this time, Takeshi didn’t immediately try to laugh it off. Having eleven marks wasn’t just unusual, it was unfathomable. Even stories that had characters with a lot of soul marks never gave the characters more than seven or eight. But Tsuna revealed the remaining marks, and there was no denying that they existed. Immediately, Tsuna wished he hadn’t shown Takeshi all of his marks. What if Takeshi thought he was some kind of freak now? What if he decided that he didn’t want anything to do with Tsuna after this, because of how dangerous his marks seemed? Before he knew it, his eyes started blurring as the tears pricked his eyes. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to be my friend anymore, right?”

Takeshi kept his head lowered for a moment, and Tsuna tried not to think about what the other boy could be thinking about. But he didn't even have time to think of a potential distraction, as Takeshi raised it seconds later. Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that he would wake up in his room. That was the moment when gentle laughter rang through the air.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your friend? You're such a cool person!" Once Takeshi had replied, Tsuna's face was a pinker than bubblegum. 

"I-I'm not cool," Tsuna murmured, but Takeshi continued laughing. 

"You're not afraid of other kids, though. You're so brave! And you have so many cool marks. You're gonna be a trouble maker, aren't you?" Without warning, Tsuna felt Takeshi's hand run through his hair, grasping at clumps to squish it down. Though Tsuna wriggled slightly at the force of the pushing, he liked the soothing motion Takeshi had used as he slid his hand against Tsuna's hair instead. Tsuna chimed in with a small, squeaky giggle of his own. 

***

"I hope the boys are still having fun. I think they've gotten quieter," Aoi sighed after setting down her ginseng flavored green tea. Though she had said that she would cook, her husband insisted that she talk to their older guest - after all, there was no reason for both of them to be stuck in the kitchen when he could easily prepare a dish for the two visitors along with his orders. And so Aoi prepared two cups of tea and sat quietly in her living room with Nana. 

Nana noticed Aoi's long face when she and Tsuna had arrived earlier, but she didn't want to ask about what had upset her since they had parted only hours ago. Instead, she attempted to try to find any common interests that they might share, figuring that talking about something they both enjoyed might lift Aoi's spirit. But no matter what she said, Aoi never seemed to utter more than a couple of words in response. So when Aoi had finally remarked on something first for a change, Nana felt the urge to reply immediately. "I'm sure they're just tired out from playing around so much. Even kids only have so much energy." 

"I suppose..." Rather than Aoi's features becoming smoother, however, her eyebrows scrunched up together as she shut her eyes. Nana had tried so hard to keep her mouth shut, but seeing the distress on Aoi's face, she just couldn't leave her alone. But before Nana could get a word out, Aoi opened her eyes again. In a whisper so low, she sighed, "I just never thought this day would come so soon. They're just so young." 

"It's normal for kids to make friends quickly at this age," Nana replied, her voice lifting just slightly at the end, as if she were posing a question. But Aoi shook her head, wavy black locks falling out of place around her face. Nana didn't have to wait for Aoi to tell her what she was thinking about. The moment she and Tsuna had gotten home, he showed her his own mark. "Ah, that... Yes, I'll admit I wasn't expecting this so soon either. But I have a good feeling about this."

Aoi nodded, but when she raised her head, Nana noticed how distant her gaze was. Before had reached for her tea again, Nana noticed how Aoi rested her hand over her collarbone. She saw a peak of red there, though even the small splash of color seemed paler than the vibrant colors that typically marked people's bodies. Even though Nana's own mark was beginning to lose its vibrancy, the colors didn't look quite as muted yet.

"Don't forget that there's more than one type of soulmate," Nana offered, trying to reassure both herself and Aoi. Aoi finally offered a warmer smile after hearing Nana's comment. 

"Thank you. You're right. And I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. That's no way to behave when guests are around," Aoi chuckled, covering her face with her hand before drinking the rest of her tea. 

"No, I understand your worries. I still fear what will happen to Tsuna in the future. But we should both enjoy these moments of happiness, right?" 

"You're right again. Sawada-san, you've been so kind." 

"Oh, please, call me Nana!" Upon hearing the giggling fits of their two sons rushing towards them, Nana grinned. "Something tells me that we might be seeing each other more frequently." 

"Mom, is dinner ready yet? I'm so hungry!" Takashi complained as he tugged the dark blue sleeves of his mother's shirt. As if right on cue, Takashi's father stepped out with a larger tray of sushi in his hands. 

"Wow, that looks so yummy," Tsuna remarked, looking at the dishes in awe. Takashi's father said nothing, but a small smile graced his otherwise rigid face. Just as quickly as he had entered, he returned back to his restaurant and left the mothers and sons alone to eat. Nana didn't question why Aoi's husband wouldn't be joining them, while Tsuna was too enticed by the fish in front of him to notice. 

"I hope you both enjoy the meal," Aoi said, with just a faint twinge of sadness hidden behind her welcoming smile. Nana almost didn't notice it, but it was quickly forgotten the excited cheers of the two boys sitting at the table. Her conversation with Aoi and all of the marks scattered around her son's body would still worry her, but at that moment, all she wanted to do was capture the look on Tsuna's face. Before eating, she wished that her son could grow up to be as happy as he was on the evening he made his first friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, it's so hard to write in a such a young voice, especially since I know that six-year-olds are far from completely innocent (or at least the kids I work with aren't), but they are still quite naive and they don't know a lot. 
> 
> I finished this chapter a little later than I had been hoping to, but hopefully I can get the next one out by Sunday. For the month of April, I will be posting at least one chapter a week, since I'm making this my Camp Nano project. That being said, there is no way that this will be finished this month (I still have papers, projects and exams to worry about for the rest of the semester). I should have the childhood arc wrapped up by the end of the month, however. 
> 
> Sorry for making you guys wait on the next soulmate! I wanted to include them in this chapter, but then I realized that it would either feel like they were shoehorned in, or this chapter would be unnecessarily long. So the next soulmate will definitely be introduced in the next chapter. But yeah, the chapters won't usually be like this, with such a limited focus. I also won't be focusing on the parents as much as I did here, but I also don't want to ignore them like the anime and manga does for the most part. A few of the parents are a bit more important to the plot than others, but at the end of the day, this is ultimately a story between Tsuna and his soulmates. So if you're worried that this might move away from the main characters too much, don't worry. This definitely won't be the case most of the time. I planned out this arc before I started this chapter, so this story is definitely headed in a straight direction, if you were worried about that. :) 
> 
> As before, let me know what you think! I'd love feedback, and what you guys think will happen next. Feel free to ask questions too.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Tsuna and Takeshi became friends, Tsuna's life changed for the better. He no longer felt lonely and ashamed for the way he felt about soul marks. Even though the rest of his classmates were slower in warming up to him, Tsuna was eventually able to make a few more friends with Takeshi's help. He was no longer ignored in group activities, and he even got a little better at the games his class would play. But most importantly, he was happy because of Takeshi, and Takeshi seemed just as happy with him. It didn't really matter to either of them that they were each other's soulmates - what mattered was that they had fun watching anime together, and got just as annoyed about doing homework over break as the other did.

Of course, even back in kindergarten, Tsuna felt like something was off when people started to accept him. Up until summer break, nobody bothered aside from the occasional slip-up that occurred during a class activity or whenever they were in gym. All it took was one simple crack Tsuna's wall to act as the catalyst. But it didn't hit Tsuna that he was changing in front of others until it was too late for him to move away. Even as he had hoped that no one had seen his marks, he suspected that a wish like that was just too good to be true. Nobody said anything then, but Tsuna wasn't surprised when the rumors and the looks started up again. Whispers of him being a freak covered with violent soul marks and the unconscious flinching that occurred whenever people got close to him soon became commonplace in the six-year-old's life.

Upon hearing the rumors, Takeshi condemned their creators as being cowards and tried to persuade people to give Tsuna a chance. But Takeshi's defense of Tsuna, along with the discovery that he and Tsuna had matching marks, only added fuel to the already spreading flames. People took it upon themselves to watch every movement of Tsuna's just to have a chance of glancing one of his mysterious marks. Takeshi's presence helped keep people at bay, but Takeshi couldn't always be around Tsuna. And when he wasn't there, that was when the threats began.

"Dynamite? We can't have someone with a soulmate like that hanging out with us! What if we all blow up?"

"What kind of soul mark is a bloody trident anyway? And the smoking gun on your back - are all of your soulmates murders? I bet you're going to get everyone killed!"

"What a freak! No normal person could have soul marks this scary! I can't be near someone who attracts so much danger."

At first, these comments troubled Tsuna. He didn't care about those kids not wanting to be around him, but he was worried about Takeshi. Every time Takeshi tried cracking a joke or reassuring him with a hug and sincere promises until Tsuna stopped crying, Tsuna's fears transformed. With each new taunt, he began seeing images of Takeshi covered in bruises and blood, growing more and more unrecognizable until he resembles a body prop more than an actual human. And so as the other students began isolating Tsuna, Tsuna tried to separate himself from Takeshi. As persistent as the bullies were, however, they were no match for Takeshi's determined spirit.

"Tsuna, you've been acting kind of funny lately. Are you still worried that I'll stop being your friend because of your marks? I'd think you'd know me a little better than that by now, even if we weren't soulmates," Takeshi teased Tsuna as they walked home from school one afternoon. Tsuna offered a quivering smile, before issuing a quiet apology. The two still hung out as often as possible, but being placed in different classes after teachers thought it would be a good idea to separate the two soulmates (were they oblivious to Tsuna's situation?) meant less time for the two nine-year-olds to hang out. It also allowed more time for the bullies to target Tsuna without his "guardian" around.

"No, it's not that," Tsuna replied, his vision shifting to focus on anything but Takeshi's face. Even if his friend acted like things were okay on the surface with that permanent smile of his, Tsuna knew that Takeshi could sense just how off things were, regardless of whether problems were discussed or not. At that moment, he knew that lying to Takeshi would be futile - just as Tsuna could sense Takeshi's suspicions, Takeshi could sniff out Tsuna's lies. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

The moment Tsuna finished speaking, Takeshi stopped walking. Tsuna was forced to look up at him as the other boy placed his hands firmly on his shoulder's. The smile that had been on Takeshi's face was replaced by a scowl and eyes narrowed so low that Tsuna would have ran away if it had been anyone else giving him that look. "Tsuna, are those kids hurting you in class? Because if they are-"

"No!" Tsuna shouted quickly, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. "I don't care about them. But my soul marks - the dynamite, gun, trident, even the skull - they're so dangerous. What if my other soulmates are murders? I don't want them to hurt you."

"They are pretty scary," Takeshi agreed, his expressions relaxing a bit. "But I can't let you get deal with them all by yourself!"

"Takeshi-"

"When was the last time you made it a week in gym without tripping or dropping anything?" Takeshi chuckled, forcing an embarrassed frown on Tsuna's face. "It's a miracle that you're any good at judo at all! Look, you don't have to worry about getting me hurt - I might not be as good at fighting as you, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything. And you're my best friend, Tsuna. Do you think I could handle you getting hurt either?"

It took everything in Tsuna's power not to start bawling on the street, but he still couldn't prevent slight sniffling. Instead of laughing at him, however, Takeshi pulled him in for a tight hug, offering Tsuna light pats until Tsuna squeezed back.

"Let's both try to get stronger together, then! You can teach me how to fight, and I can help you work on not being such a klutz," Takeshi offered after they finally broke away and continued the rest of their walk.

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed, allowing himself to smile. "Maybe things won't be so bad after all."

Pumpkins lined the windows of the stores along the street as parents and kids bustled around town in various costumes. Among them were the Sawadas, with Tsuna dressed as a knight and Nana a nurse. Originally, Tsuna had no intensions of dressing up for a party, but Takeshi had been insistent on Tsuna coming, saying that it wouldn't be a proper celebration without his best friend/soulmate. Figuring that him being their would probably ruin the mood for many of Takeshi's other guests, Tsuna continued to decline. Only through the intervention of their mothers (which Tsuna still thought was a pretty low blow) was Tsuna finally convinced to go.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun," his mother insisted as they walked over. Tsuna didn't agree, but he didn't want to take away from his mother's anticipation of the event. At the very least, she and Aoi would be able to see each other again. "Besides, you look so cute!"

"Mom!" Tsuna groaned, but Nana hummed over him. As he opened his mouth to complain again, he thought he heard crying from nearby.

"Is something wrong, Tsu-kun?"

"You don't hear anything?" Nana looked around, but could only shake her head. But as the two got closer to the park, the crying grew louder. Right as he was passing by, he noticed a brown-haired girl dressed as a magical girl who was about his age. The girl was surrounded by a pair of boys and another girl slightly older than her. While they were all laughing at her, she was crying into her little white gloves. Tsuna stopped, pointing over at her. "That's where the noise is coming from. I need to go help her!"

Before his mother could reply, Tsuna took off. He might not be good for much, but he wasn't going to let someone be cornered the same he was for no reason. But as he got closer, he realized that he probably wouldn't be of any actual help - maybe one or two kids wouldn't have been too bad, but three was more than he could take on at once. So when he shouted "Leave her alone!" at the other three kids, it came out as an unfortunate squeak.

"Oh, look, another loser! You two would make the perfect pair." Tsuna was glad that the majority of his face was covered, because he was sure that it was completely red. But at his arrival, the girl had finally stopped crying. That was something, at least.

"You can't gang up on a girl like that. It isn't fair!"

"If you aren't too careful, kid, we might have to teach you a lesson too!" Before Tsuna could ask what they meant, however, his mom had finally got up to him.

"What's going on here?" she asked, staring at the kids sternly.

"Ah, nothing ma'am. We were just telling him that he had a really cool costume!" One boy stammered out as the trio retreated slowly.

"Yeah. I wanted to know who this girl was dressed as, that's all," the other girl replied. "We won't be any trouble. In fact, we were just leaving."

"Good." While Nana kept her attention on the older kids, Tsuna turned to the girl wearing a puffy yellow dress with pink ribbons.

"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked, offering her his free hand. Without saying anything, she took his. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling, but she still had a frown on her face. "What's wrong?"

"They broke my wand. I spent so long making this entire costume, but the wand was my favorite part of it." In the girl's right hand she held a small white plastic stick beside a piece of unraveled pink ribbon. The top of the wand, which was a golden star with a pink heart in the middle, was in her left hand. Tsuna knew he had seen the design somewhere, but he didn't want to look down at his wrist for confirmation.

"I'm sorry. But you made the costume yourself? That's amazing." The girl smiled at the compliment as a her cheeks were tinted pink.

Turning to face the two children, Nana smiled. "Tsu-kun's right. That's a very cute costume."

"Thank you. But my mom actually helped me with most of it. She wanted to make clothes, but she ended up becoming a teacher instead. She started teaching me how to sew recently." As the girl spoke, Tsuna noticed that the girl started moving more as she got happier. "I was so happy when we finished this costume, but now I don't have a weapon anymore."

Tsuna looked down at the scabbard hanging against his leg. The glint of a golden rhinestone caught his eye. As if reading his mind, his mom offered him a smile. "It's okay. Go ahead, Tsu-kun."

Pulling out the short plastic sword, he offered it the girl in front of him. "I know it's not that great, but maybe you can use this as a weapon instead. The hilt of the sword kind of matches your costume." But rather than accepting the sword right away, the girl jumped instead.

"Hahi! Could you really be Haru's soulmate? This is just like a fairy tale!" While the girl began squealing, Tsuna gulped. Pulling back his right sleeve, he stared at his wrist. In place of the magical girl wand was a field of flowers underneath a cloudless blue sky.

"Isn't that great Tsuna? You found another soulmate!" Nana shouted. At this, Haru gasped, but Tsuna couldn't hear what she said. All he could think about were the other marks on his body. As the dangerous marks had begun to consume his mind, he completely forgot about the other marks on his body. Because despite all of the weapons on his body, he also had more civilian markings, like the cat and the cake. And even though the cow was a little odd, he figured that someone who was associated with cows during their first meeting couldn't be too much of a threat. How could he possibly let any of them come into harms way, as he was already risking Takeshi getting hurt? No, he couldn't do it.

"Ah, I'm sor-"

"Tsu-kun, it doesn't matter who your other soulmates are! I'll prove that we're the ones who work best together," Haru proclaimed as she lifted Tsuna's sword toward the sky. "From now on, we'll be spending a lot of time together!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter took longer than I was expecting for a couple of different reasons. The main one was that I was super busy until Saturday doing work for my classes. I officially have classes until the 26th, but I will be pretty much finished with everything but a couple of finals and a paper after this week. So officially, I'll still have work until the 5th, but it shouldn't be nearly as intense as this past week was. The second reason was stress from the first, and I'm still not completely over it. The third reason, however, is that I had to keep restarting this chapter because I kept losing it or forgetting to save it. This chapter ended up being different than I had originally intended it to be, but I think it turned out alright in the end.
> 
> Since I wasn't able to get out a chapter last week, my goal is to try to get two out this week. The next two chapters will probably be shorter, so hopefully that will make things go faster for posting.
> 
> Anyway, this marks only the beginning of problems for poor Tsuna. Next chapter will introduce one of the bigger issues that Tsuna will have to face later on, so that'll be fun to write. Right now I only have three more chapters planned for the childhood arc, and I don't think I'll have to extend the last part, but I might include a short fourth chapter in between the other three to show a little bit of bonding between the characters (I'm not sure if I would want to make it go along with the plot and be part of the main story, or be a fun, goofy one-shot posted separately; it'd most likely be the former though). If this is something that would interest you guys, let me know!


	4. Drifting Souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. I'm extremely sorry for taking so long to upload this. There were multiple factors that were involved with me pushing back the release of this update, but the biggest reason is because I wasn't in the right mental state for a while. I'll go into more detail below, but I just wanted to give my apology for the wait up front. Anyway, my life is actually pretty hectic now, so updates will be a little slower than they were initially, but hopefully more frequent than this last one.

The addition of Haru into Tsuna's daily routine was swift. They never said their full names when they met, but Haru was given the Sawada's address by a very beaming Nana. So the morning after they met, Tsuna didn't guess why his mother insisted on him coming to the door until he saw her large brown eyes.

"Ah? Tsu-kun? Wow, you're so pretty, like a prince!" The statement both curled Tsuna's stomach and made his face flush as red as a rose. Tsuna wasn't sure what to expect from Haru from their brief encounter, but he was sure that this wasn't it. Though he understood why she would have been dressed up on Halloween, he didn't understand why she was dressed in a red hood and a Victorian dress on November 1.

"Haru-san? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to return your sword!" The sword appeared so quick that Tsuna thought Haru was trying to attack him. Unconsciously, he deflected the sword, knocking it out of Haru's grasp. "Wow, that was amazing, Tsu-kun!"

As Tsuna bent down to retrieve his sword, he felt a pair of eyes burning into the back of his head. When he looked up again, he noticed a man standing with his arms crossed behind Haru.

"Would you two like to play together?" Nana asked, the giddiness clear in her voice. Tsuna saw how Haru was practically bouncing from the question, but before either child could get a word out, a gruff clearing of the throat could be heard from behind them.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid Haru doesn't have time for that this morning," a tall man with imposing eyes hidden behind thick glasses replied.

"We're going already, Dad? But I didn't even get to talk to Tsuna!" Haru cried. Haru's father turned around without another word, but his disappearance was clear enough. After he had already made it to the fence, Haru finally followed after him, her head dipping in slightly. "Looks like I have to go, Tsu-kun. But we'll meet again soon! Fate will bring us together."

Meet again soon they did, as the very next day Haru came trotting over to Tsuna's house only to find him practicing his fighting with Takeshi. Before Haru could get a word out, Tsuna stopped defending himself, forcing Takeshi to stop attacking.

"Haru, are you okay? You look like you're going to fall over," Tsuna asked, noticing how heavily Haru was heaving back and forth. As he walked over to offer her a hand, with Takeshi in tow, Haru suddenly rushed forward, thrusting herself in-between the two boys.

"I wanted to show you my newest costume, but then I heard panting and I thought I heard you crying. Tsu-kun, are you okay?"

Tsuna's face burned, both from the embarrassing nickname (did she actually think his name was Tsu?) and from the fact that she had managed to hear him complaining. It certainly didn't help matters that he could hear the muffled laughter from behind him. Takeshi might not be as experienced in fighting as he was, but Takeshi's offensive power had definitely managed to surpass his own. And he was quick. Even Tsuna's growing instincts couldn't help him block every attack. Still, as often as Takeshi had gotten to him, he had gotten back at Takeshi. "I'm okay, Haru. Takeshi and I were just practicing Judo together."

"Tsuna, is this a new friend of yours?" Takeshi asked, forcing Haru to finally turn around. Though Tsuna couldn't see her face, her hands flew down to her hips.

"You could say that," Tsuna murmured.

"I'll have you know that we're soulmates!" Haru insisted, the pout evident in her voice.

"Oh, that's cool!" Takeshi said, as he slipped from behind Haru and returned to Tsuna's side. Haru whipped her around just in time to see Takeshi slinging an arm over Tsuna's shoulders, as a smile broke across Tsuna's face. "Congrats on finding another soulmate, Tsuna!"

"This is your other soulmate?" Tsuna watched as both Haru and Takeshi's eyebrows arched. After exchanging a quick glance with Takeshi, Tsuna sighed. If Haru was going to be sticking around, he might as well know the truth.

"Well, actually…"

*.*.*

Nana Sawada couldn't feel any happier for her son than she already was. When he had started Namimori Elementary, she had worried that her son would become even more reclusive than when he was a toddler - no matter what she did, he never seemed interested in interacting with other kids. But now, he willingly went to parties and hung out with the classmates who weren't so vile towards him, even though she could tell from his fetish behavior that he still had some apprehension when socializing with people behind Takeshi and Haru. Still, it was the fact that he was trying to integrate into society that gave her relief. And she knew it was because of his two soulmates that any of this was possible.

Of course, in a way, Nana herself was doing better since Tsuna first met Takeshi - for the first time since she dropped out of college, she was finally socializing beyond her typical interactions with her neighbors and workers. Before befriending Aoi, she had almost forgotten how fun it is to have some to talk about anything with, go shopping with, and even just to drink tea with. Because when she had met him, her soulmate, her whole world had stopped, and all she cared about was being together with him. And then he left her alone once Tsuna was born, and all she could do - no, all she had, was Tsuna. And even though he still called once a month and helped to provide for them, that hadn't stopped her mark from starting to dull out. Because soulmates or not, she was losing touch with him, and it took more than cold, distant money and empty-hearted inquiries into his family's affairs to keep a relationship alive. But even if she couldn't depend on him to be around for her and Tsuna, that didn't matter anymore - new people were slowly entering their lives to help make their once empty household one constantly brimming with joy.

But as Nana and Tsuna's lives kept going up, life just had to throw a wrench into the works to mess everything up. Even before meeting him, Nana hadn't always gotten along with everyone, which was perfectly normal. But it had been a long time since anyone had been as hostile towards her as Haru's father was.

When Nana heard the knock on the door the following afternoon, she was expecting to Aoi and Takeshi returning Tsuna. Instead "Sawada-san, is it? I'm Miura Ibuki, Haru's father."

"Nana is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miura-san." she smiled, giving a slight bow.

"...Likewise. Is your son home, at the moment?" Nana's face scrunched just slightly at the question. Even though she knew this man was Haru's father, she couldn't fathom why that would be his very first question. For a moment, she thought about lying, telling him that she was too busy to talk at the moment. But no matter how she imagined it, she just couldn't picture anything too serious occurring, so she shook her head.

"I'm afraid he's out right now, but he should be here soon. Please, come inside."

"That won't be necessary. I came over here today to state that my daughter will no longer be associating with your son." Just as Nana was about to sigh from not having to admit this man into her home, she felt both of her arms grow stiff as he made his announcement.

"Why would you say that? Our children are soulmates - you can't take that away from them." She almost added, "even if you wanted," since soulmates were bound to be apart of each other's lives unless death or some kind of disconnect broke them apart. Her own family's desperate attempts to keep her away from "that damned coal miner" (that was what he had originally claimed to be after her mark had transformed from a miner's hat to swirling galaxy full of colors; the construction worker title came later) ended with her elopement/shotgun wedding. It was only her husband's aloofness that fueled the decay of their relationship. Tsuna might not be as opposed to this forced separation, but if Haru was anything like her, Nana knew that the girl wouldn't accept her father's conditions.

"It is precisely because they are soulmates that I do not want your son anywhere near my daughter. Are you aware of your son's marks?"

"Of course I am," Nana frowned, already seeing where this was going. She couldn't blame Tsuna for showing Haru, but she had a feeling that one of his soulmates wasn't going to be able to handle his other soulmates. Because as much as she tried to reassure her son, each day she was terrified that he would meet the owner of the smoking gun or the bloody trident - he might have eleven soulmates, but there was no guarantee that he would actually be able to meet all of them.

"Now I am too. because when my daughter came home, Haru proclaimed that she wanted to learn martial arts to 'Protect Tsu-kun from his dangerous soulmates!' I don't think I should have to explain why having my daughter around someone with bloody bandages and dynamite would be imprudent. What if the bullet fired is aimed at my precious daughter?" Oh. So it really wasn't Haru, but her fact that the girl was already so determined to be around Tsuna was both inspiring and concerning. She couldn't argue against his concerns for her safety,

"I'm also concerned for my son and his soulmate's safety. But we don't know the context of those marks - just that that's what he'll notice. Maybe the gun and bandages are related to sporting events." She had a feeling that Ibuki wasn't going to buy her explanation, but there was still a chance that they were both wrong about the potential danger that would enter Tsuna's life.

"Sawada-san, who are you trying to fool? Your son's already an anomaly for possessing so many marks, and patterns in marks have proven to a correlation to the type of life a person could expect to live. I understand your need to delude yourself about your son's future, but I intend to keep my family far away from yours. Good day."

"Even if it costs your daughter's happiness? Or your relationship with her?" Nana called out, as she watched the Miura's retreating figure freeze. She was pushing too much, she knew. But how could Nana know that someone was going to inflict the same torture she had gone through to someone so young? How she listen to a man saying that he would be taken away one of the two friends Tsuna could truly depend on in his life? For a second, Nana dared to hope that he had changed his mind. But when Ibuki turned around, his face had grown sullen.

"We will not speak any further on this matter." And like that, he was gone. But of course, the day didn't end there. Because it wasn't enough for the universe to try and break up the barely budding friendship between Tsuna and Haru. No, life just had to throw a wrench into the works to mess everything up. Because after all of those years he had been gone - when he told her to tell their son that he had gone to the stars, and she finally began to wake up to his deception - he was back. Her husband. Her soulmate. Iemitsu Sawada. Without so much as a phone call to give her a warning - just a simple knock, and boom, his blindingly deceptive grin was beaming towards her. Without once in the last five years asking to talk to Tsuna, or even giving so much as a damn beyond the bits and pieces she would tell him about when he had first left. After so long, it had been easy to hide her developing frustration in her voice. But in person? She couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face, no matter how much she tried.

"Nana, my sweet darling, you look as lovely as - are you crying?" When the man reached out to hug her, she wanted to hit him. Slap him. Shove him out the door, lock it, and never look back. But she just couldn't bring herself to push him away, or to call him out on everything that he had - and more importantly, hadn't - done. Because after so long, a small part of her still jumped from hearing his voice, from his touch, his scent. And she hated it so much, she really did, and she could never forgive him for everything. But they were still soulmates, and some things could never be erased.

"Iemitsu... why - what are you doing here? I thought you were in Russia." Why didn't you call? Why are you here now? Don't you care about your son? Ask about him, damn it!

"I just had to see your face again. It's been far too long, darling. And I thought Tsuna would like the surprise!"

"Surprise? Iemitsu... you haven't spoken to Tsuna in years. How could you think that he would be happy to see you?" Physically, she might have been pleased by his return, but it didn't take long for Iemitsu to remind her about why her mark was fading. But before she could continue her rant, she couldn't help but get distracted by the sound of a cat's purring from behind the blond.

"Actually, Nana, I wasn't talking about me," Iemitsu admitted, lowering his eyes just slightly. "There's someone that we need to take care of, for a couple of days. And I was hoping that he and Tsuna could be friends."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, again, I just really want to apologize for the longer wait in the update for this chapter without any warnings. A lot of things went on during the last month, that I just wasn't expecting. The first was losing this chapter multiple times (I still don't understand how that happened). But the bigger factors had to deal with my stress and anxiety. I severely underestimated the amount of stress I would be under during finals, so I had to take a couple of weeks off to give myself time to study. But even after I had finished finals, the dread of grades and all of that still stuck around, and I just wasn't satisfied with what I was writing. By the time I got home, I had started working again, but I didn't consider that working all day wouldn't provide me with a proper opportunity to relieve my stress, and I only got more stressed out. But the biggest reason why I haven't updated in a while is because I found out that I would have to move within the month the week I got home. There are some other things involved with me not updating, but those were more under my control. Anyway, most of my stressors have now been solved (we found a place to move, which was very relieving), and after this week, I'm taking a break from working to give myself the break I need. I can't say definitively when the next chapter should be out, but it should be out much sooner than this one was. I just want to thank you for your patience, and I hope you can understand.
> 
> Anyway, it was really fun to write more of Nana's perspective this chapter. I think originally, after this chapter, I was supposed to do two more chapters and the one-off before this arc was completed, but that might be pushed back to three more chapters (or rather, four with the one-off). It really depends on how much I can logically cover in the next chapter because I don't want to cramp everything together. We'll have to see how it works out.
> 
> See y'all next time, and thanks for reading.


	5. Kindred Souls

When Tsuna finally returned home, he wasn't expecting to be mauled by a cat. If Takeshi hadn't been right behind him to catch him, he probably would have fallen right there at the door.

"Emi, no," a shaky voice all but whispered from inside. Within seconds, Tsuna felt a pair of hands bump into his as they both sought to free the angered cat from his face. As the cat's fur finally zoomed away from him, Tsuna released his hands from its body and fell against Takeshi's chest. Looking in front of him, he finally noticed the red-haired boy who had freed the cat from his face. Dressed in a torn jacket and dark pants too loose for him, he was about Tsuna's size. But unlike Tsuna, the boy's lip was quivering, and his downcast eyes were quickly filling with tears. "I'm sorry. I'm already being a burden. I shouldn't even be here right now."

"No, no – you couldn't help it!" Tsuna laughed nervously, trying to reassure the other boy. He didn't address the rest of what the boy said, however, because he was right – he shouldn't have been in his house, not when they had never even met. But he didn't have the heart to say this to him – one glance at his face told Tsuna that the last thing this boy needed was to feel any worse than he already did. Because as long as it had been since he had seen that face, he still knew it; it was like looking in a mirror from the past.

"Tsuna, is this a new friend? You sure are popular these days!" Takeshi laughed as he helped Tsuna adjust himself. "Though it looks like you aren't much of an animal charmer."

"Takeshi!" Aoi admonished, while Tsuna snuck in a chuckle of his own. It wasn't every day that he got to see his soulmate running his hand through his hair, with the faintest hint of a blush on his cheeks – it was always him who messed something up, from accidentally knocking over his food at lunch to putting his clothes on so hastily that he put something on backwards or inside-out.

"Actually, no, I've never met him before," Tsuna replied, before looking back to the boy who was trying to hide behind the door frame as he stepped inside. "Hello. My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi. But you can just call me Tsuna."

"Kozato… Enma…" As the boy held out his hand, the sleeve of his jacket slid down his arm, revealing a large mark on his right forearm. Half of the mark was that same sky blue that Tsuna was starting to grow accustomed to, but the second half was covered in a lush green meadow. Tsuna couldn't take his eyes off it, drawing the attention of the other boy. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's just, your mark is really cool…"

"Cool? It's just a-" The boy started, before peering down at his arm. "… It wasn't like that before… You're…"

"What?" Tsuna asked, right as Takeshi's mother cleared her throat.

"Well, I think it's about time for Takeshi and me to go back. Tsuna, please tell your mother hello for me. I'm sure she has... a lot on her plate right now." As Aoi turned around, Tsuna's mom came staggering down the stairs, looking more disheveled than Tsuna had ever seen her look in his life.

"Aoi, is that you? Why don't you and Takeshi stay for dinner tonight? I'm fixing to start a large stew for dinner, and we'd love the extra company." Although she was smiling, the creases in her face and the way her eyebrows were arched immediately signaled to Tsuna that she was not alright. Tsuna wasn't quite sure of the right word, but even at his age, he could sense the desperation in her voice. Aoi seemed to sense this as well, as she suddenly stopped walking away and came back to the door.

"It has been a while since we've eaten together, and I'd love to help you. What do you say, Takeshi?"

"Sounds great!" The mother and son duo stepped into the house, one with a large smile on his face, the other with a small frown on her lips.

"Boys, why don't you stay in the living room while I help Nana out with dinner?" Aoi offered, placing an arm gently over the other woman's shoulders.

"Doesn't that sound great?" Nana chimed in warily, before disappearing into the kitchen with her friend. Trying his best not to worry about his mother after watching her frame disappear, Tsuna looked over to the now flustered redhead, Takeshi glancing back with him.

"So, Enma, you said your mark wasn't like that before?" Tsuna asked, trying to initiate a conversation with the quiet boy. Though he didn't respond, when he looked up, his eyes locked onto Tsuna's. For just a moment, Tsuna thought he saw a glimmer of hope in his gaze. Neither of them had to ask the question at this point.

"Wow, another one so soon? Maybe the rest of your soulmates won't be too bad, Tsuna!" Grabbed together with his newest soulmate by Takeshi, Tsuna awkwardly hugged both boys back. After they broke apart, both Tsuna and Takeshi tried to question Enma to find out more about him and why he was there, but the boy never uttered another word. After this persisted for a few minutes, their interrogation was interrupted by an insistent knocking at the door. Takeshi and Tsuna traveled over to the door while Enma sat down with his cat, Emi. After peering through the eyehole, Takeshi beamed down at Tsuna. "Wow, you really are popular today! It's Haru-chan."

The instant Tsuna opened the door, Haru crashed onto him. Before he could get a word out, her arms laced around his neck as she started heaving from her sobs.

"Tsuna-kun! I'm running away!" Haru's declaration wasn't firm like her usual voice, but shaky and uttered in between hollow gasps. Even though they had just met, Tsuna had a feeling that the girl was rarely so uncollected.

"Haru-chan? What's wrong?" As Tsuna sat up, he felt the full bag resting on Haru's back. Was she really that set on running away? But what could have set her off so much?

"My dad, he- he said that I couldn't see you anymore!" The moment she uttered the announcement, her sobbing ceased, but the girl continued heaving. "But I don't care what he says. He can't keep me away from you!"

This wasn't good. If Haru's dad was determined to keep her away from him when he hardly even knew the man, there was no telling what he would do if he found out Haru had run away to his house. Gulping, Tsuna gently placed his arms around Haru, while looking back at Takeshi and Enma for help. Enma was still sitting on the couch, looking on sadly at the pair while holding tight to Emi, but Takeshi gave him a nod and retreated to the kitchen. After a minute, Nana came out with Takeshi, her eyes expressing her concern.

"Haru-chan, what are you doing here?" At the sound of Nana's voice, Tsuna felt Haru's grip on him loosen. Slowly but steadily, Tsuna removed his own arms from her back as Nana came to sit beside the two. "I'm happy that you enjoy being here, but you shouldn't do that to your parents – they'll be really sad that you're gone."

Leave it to his mom to say exactly the right words. Haru's movements finally steady as she let go of Tsuna to stand up. "Sawada-san, could you call my parents, to let them know I'm okay?"

"Of course, dear. Tell you what, how about I invite them over, so you can stay here just a little bit longer, and so we can try to talk some sense to your dad?" As Nana winked, Tsuna was revealed to see his mom expressing the same amount of charm she always did. He still wasn't sure why she was feeling so distraught earlier, but he also wasn't sure why his newest soulmate was in his home either. There had to be something that explained everything.

Right as Nana hung up the phone, loud thuds boomed from the staircase. Was Enma here because some old friends of his mom were over? That could explain it, but his mom always told him when they were expecting visitors, that way he could help clean up. No, that wasn't it. "Wow, you kids sure are boisterous. It's nice to hear all these voices, the voices of the innocent."

That deep, booming voice… there was something almost familiar about it - as if Tsuna had heard it a long time ago. But when he closed his eyes, he just couldn't picture any faces to go with it. It wasn't until the voice called out to him from behind, that he finally got a face to go with it. The stranger behind him, dressed up in an orange jumpsuit and a plain tank top, sported blond stubble and short blond hair. His smile was bright, almost blindingly so, but there was a certain mischievous look in his eyes. After a few moments, Tsuna finally realized that he had seen that face before, in photographs that had long been stored away.

"Dad?"

*.*.*

For the first time, the Sawada family had actually used all eight chairs at their dining table. When both of Haru's parents arrived, Nana searched frantically for another chair until both Haru and Takeshi offered up their chair to sit with Tsuna, who didn't oppose either of their propositions. And so, on one side of the table sat Takeshi, Tsuna and Haru, and Enma, while directly opposing them were Aoi, Ibuki, and Haru's mother, Rita, respectively. At the two heads of the table, which felt worlds apart to Nana, was Nana herself and Iemitsu. Despite the tension hanging heavily over all of their heads, she couldn't help but take a picture of the moment – something like this definitely didn't happen every day.

Despite the constant glares sent across the table, Nana felt a sense of relief from the fact that no one had taken to verbal assaults, or even worse, physical ones, though from looking at Aoi's face, Nana could tell the raven-haired woman was doing everything she could to hold back her tongue every time Iemitsu spoke. After Aoi had comforted Nana about Iemitsu's return earlier, the woman couldn't stop cursing about how he was taking his family for granted and how manipulative he was for always keeping Nana on a loop. She'd gotten so angry, that Nana feared she would never calm down until her body forced her to by making the frail and usually docile woman quiver uncontrollably. Not that he didn't deserve to hear anything that Aoi had to dish out at him – even though Iemitsu explained the danger that Enma was in, he still left a lot of questions unanswered – like where he had been all of these years, why he never bothered to ask about Tsuna, what it was that he actually did, and why it was worth more than his family. Even if Nana had managed to ask him about everything, however, she knew that she couldn't expect a straight answer from him. But Ibuki was just as angry as Aoi – Nana wondered how a blood vessel hadn't burst already.

"Sawada-san, this stew was absolutely wonderful; it's leagues better than anything you could buy at a store or restaurant. You'll have to give us the recipe sometime," Rita suggested with a smile, trying to break the tension as everyone began to finish up. The children, who had been awfully quiet for the meal's duration, chimed in as well, beginning to show signs of their usually energetic dispositions. Luckily for her, it had been Rita who received the call, and not Ibuki – had he answered the phone, she was certain that she would have been met with threats instead.

"Ah, you're too kind, Miura-san. But Aoi helped me out quite a bit. Maybe next time, we can cook together."

"Nana, you're too modest. All I did was help you chop up the food. I never could season as well as you or Tsuyoshi. You're too good for this world, and some people will never understand the hell that they put you through."

"That's debatable," Ibuki uttered, only to groan after his wife gave him a swift hit to his ribs.

"That's hardly fair to Tsuna, Mom," Takeshi complained. Nana knew exactly who Aoi had been referring to. And as much as she wanted Aoi to go loose, none of the children needed to be in the room for that, and two of them desperately needed some positive reassurance. That, and she didn't want Aoi to stress her body out again. While Enma's situation was more complicated and wasn't exactly something she or anyone else could really deal with, she could try to clear up everything with Haru's parents.

"Oh, it's really not a big deal," Nana responded before Aoi could correct her son. "It's so nice that this house is finally full of people. We might not agree, but it's not really about us, is it? Our job is to be there for our kids, and they seem to be enjoying themselves."

At this, the other parents – even Ibuki – nodded in agreement. Progress. Now for the hard part. "Don't you think it would be a shame for them to be separated?"

"Sawada-san, that isn't going to work. What I said earlier still stands."

"What do you mean, what you said earlier?" Rita's face twisted just slightly. So this hadn't been a joint decision then.

"Daddy said I couldn't see Tsu-kun anymore!" Haru shouted, before proceeding to wrap her arms around Tsuna. One glance at Rita's face and Nana knew where this conversation was headed.

"Kids, why don't you head to the living room while the adults handle things?" Iemitsu suggested, only to be answered by the blank stares of the four children. Nana could make out Aoi's muffled snickering at how even the children were hesitant to heed Iemitsu's advice. Still, from the few times that Nana had witnessed Iemitsu in an argument, this really wasn't something that they should stick around to see.

"Go ahead – we'll be done soon." With a quick glance at Tsuna to ensure that he understood, Nana turned her attention to the other adults. It was business time.

*.*.*

Right as the kids were finishing up a game of "Go Fish," the adults finally shuffled out of the kitchen. Though Tsuna noticed that Haru's father still seemed rather annoyed, the parents did seem to be in a better mood than when he had last seen them.

"Come on Takeshi, it's time to go," Aoi ordered. As she turned around to tell Tsuna's mother something, Takeshi reached over and hugged the slightly shorter boy.

"Hope everything goes well, Tsuna! See ya tomorrow!" After Takeshi and his mother left, Haru's parents came to stand in front of him and her, as Tsuna's parents came behind him.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully." As Ibuki started speaking, both Tsuna and Haru's jerked up to face the imposing man. "I expect you both to do well academically. If I see so much as a slight dip in my daughter's performance, then I will be less than lenient in allowing her out of the house. And don't even think about getting a suspension, young man. As it stands, I still find you to be a dubious character for my daughter to be acquainted with. I also expect you both to take your self-defense training with the highest degree of seriousness. But I suppose I was rather rash in prohibiting any interaction between you two. But if you even think about doing anything to our daughter-"

"That's enough now, Ibuki. I think they get the point. Haru, say goodbye."

Immediately, Tsuna felt Haru grab him and twirl him around. Considering how her father had been earlier, Tsuna smiled. "Isn't this great, Tsu-kun? We can stay together!"

"Why do you keep calling me that? You can just call me Tsuna," the young boy squeaked out.

"Hahi? But Tsu-kun sounds cute, and you're really cute." Tsuna tried to protest against Haru's rebuttal, but he couldn't find the right words to save his life. Despite his frown, he couldn't stop himself from blushing. Why did she have to call him cute?

"Looks like someone has himself a little girlfriend. Nice job, son," Iemitsu teased from behind. Tsuna wished he hadn't said that. The looks that Haru and her father gave him made him want to bury himself in his bed.

"Soulmates or not, my daughter will date no one at this age, and certainly not without my permission! Besides, for all we know, they could just be platonic soulmates! Studies show that there are at least three different kinds of soulmates and I will not entertain the fact that my daughter has any dysfunctional soulmates. But romantic? They're just children!"

"Girlfriend? Does this mean that one day…? No! We're too young!" Behind him, he could hear his parents chuckling, but Tsuna was hardly amused. At last, Haru finally released Tsuna. Turning towards Enma, who was sitting on the coach, Haru gave him a quick wave before turning back to Tsuna. "I'll see you soon, Tsu-kun! Maybe we'll meet in our dreams!"

When the Miuras finally left, both of his parents went out of the living room as well – he could hear his mom cleaning up in the kitchen, while he wasn't sure where his dad had gone to. The only ones left in the room were himself and Enma, who had been noticeably quiet for the entire evening. Even after Tsuna sat down, he noticed how the other boy maintained his focus on the cat.

"You must really like cats, Enma. I noticed that you really like playing with Emi." At last, Enma finally looked up. Finally getting a good look at his face, Tsuna couldn't believe that he had failed to register how peculiar those red eyes were, even though he had looked directly at them earlier. But he only got to look for a moment, as Enma quickly lowered his head again.

"Yeah. Cats are like little angels." The moment he said that his hand froze mid-pat over Emi. Before Tsuna could ask what was wrong, the other boy slapped his own face. In a barely audible voice, he muttered, "That was so dumb, especially since she attacked you earlier. I'm always messing things up."

"Hey, you really don't have to worry about it! I didn't even get scratched earlier. Maybe she was just scared." Giving him a pat on the back, Tsuna quickly added, "Please don't beat yourself up about it."

"Thank you." When Enma say the confused look on Tsuna's face, he clarified, "For being so nice to me. A lot of things happened that... I can't really talk about. But you never got mad at me for invading your home or for my cat attacking you. And even though I'm awkward and we don't even know each other, you still tried to interact with me earlier."

As the tears started streaming down Enma's face, Tsuna couldn't help but remember the way he had been when he had first started school. Would he have turned out just as quiet as this boy if he hadn't had met Takeshi when he did? Even now, he still had a hard time opening up. "You know, I have a hard time making friends too."

When Enma looked up, Emi started growling. But rather than turning his attention back to his pet, he actually focused on Tsuna now. And though Tsuna usually didn't care for others focusing their attention on him, he felt a little warmer inside when Enma looked at him. It was... different. "But what about Haru and Takeshi? You seem really close to them."

"Well, I've known Takeshi since I was six. He was my first friend. But I only met Haru a couple of days ago. They're my soulmates, but they're also my only friends." Tsuna offered the other boy a small smile as he did his best to submerge all of the images of bullies, crumpled notes, and dirty glares that were at the back of his mind. 

"Really? I've never had any friends, to be honest. But you seem like a nice person." 

"Not according to the kids at my school. Everyone thinks that I'm a danger because of my soul marks." At that, Enma's eyes seemed to light up. After biting down on his lip, the boy started unzipping his jacket. When he finally removed it, Tsuna gasped at all of the marks covering the boy's arms. A couple of them were pretty weird, like the octopus and the space ship, but others, like the bloody claws and the drill weren't exactly inviting. 

"Are they like these?" Enma asked, pointing to the more imposing marks on his arms. Tsuna gave a nod before pushing up his hair to reveal the trident mark on his neck. Although Enma muttered quietly as Tsuna showed off some of his other marks, he never moved away from Tsuna. After Tsuna readjusted his clothes, the other boy retained his solemnness for a few moments. But before worry could settle inside of Tsuna, the redhead finally spoke up again. "I've always secretly dreaded meeting my soulmates, despite how everyone says that soulmates make life better. But this isn't too bad."

A genuine smile spread on Tsuna's face. Even though Enma was a little hard to talk to at first, it grew easier with each new sentence. "You know, we can also be friends."

Enma smiled back at Tsuna. "I think I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, the mystery of the cat mark has been resolved! For those of you who don't know, Enma Kozato is a character introduced after the end of the future arc - he's the leader of another mafia family, the Shimon family, but he's a lot like Tsuna in pretty much everything. The reason why his mark was a cat opposed to Gokudera or someone else is due to the fact that Enma was shown to really like cats (he got along with Natsu pretty well), so I thought it would be nice if he owned a cat when he was younger. I kind of messed up on the ages, but then the timeline in the series really doesn't add up after a while, and this is already different than canon, so what does it matter if the years got shifted a little? Anyway, I'd always intended to include Enma among Tsuna's soulmates, but I wasn't sure when to introduce him. At first, I was going to hold off including him until after the characters were in their teens. For a brief time, I thought about introducing him first rather than Takeshi, but if I had went that route, then Tsuna's initial interactions with Takeshi would have been a bit angsty, which wasn't what I wanted. So ultimately, I went with introducing him now, which meant the childhood arc got extended just a little bit.
> 
> A little more on soulmate lure in this chapter - it was a little hard to get too much in. 
> 
> I'm thinking about adding a couple of new fics to the schedule, but I'm not sure if I'm going to go through with one of my ideas or not. I'll have to see. Both of them are crossovers of sorts though, and I plan to start one within the next week. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon.


End file.
